The present invention relates to an auxiliary light for a vehicle such as an automobile and particularly one which does not require a mounting bezel.
Vehicles typically include a variety of interior lighting such as overhead dome lights and door panel lights to assist ingress and egress, map reading lights and the like. In the past, such lighting assemblies have frequently been manufactured by companies specializing in light assemblies who provide them to automotive manufacturers for subsequent assembly into a finished vehicle. Such assemblies have, accordingly, been self-contained and will typically include a lamp housing with a trim bezel and a removable lens for access to fasteners for securing the housing to the vehicle support structure. Frequently, the lamp housing will also include a separate reflector for the bulb which adds another component to the lamp assembly. The resultant structure, although functioning well to providing illumination to the vehicle interior, is a complex, multi-component unit which is both costly in terms of parts and material but also in terms of assembly labor and subsequent installation in the vehicle or a subcomponent of the vehicle.
With the integration of vehicle parts such as door panels and headliners which are now frequently being supplied by a single manufacturer, the assembly of such prior art lamp structures is easier since they can be preassembled prior to the installation of the main vehicle panel into the vehicle during assembly. Nonetheless, the cost of such prior art assemblies and their assembly itself remains high.